Folding box machine



Aug. 7, 1951 w. P. FERGNANI FOLDING BOX MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 5, 1946 Inventor Z afr'l 72AM y W. P. FERGNAN] FOLDING BOX MACHINE Aug. 7, 1951 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 5, 1946 Inventor 2/414 7? 70 M,- fr 6%? age,

Aug. 7, 1951 w. P. FERGNANI FOLDING BOX MACHINE Filed' June 5, 1946,

4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Inventor l/la'fiir'm M. f H

W- P. FERGNANI FOLDING BOX MACHINE Filed June 5, 1946 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 unr I '9' Illllll E PH *5 m R w x Patented Aug. 7, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FOLDING BOX MACHINE Walter Paul Fergnani, Nashua, N. H., assignor to Post Machinery Company, Beverly, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Application June 5, 1946, Serial No. 674,471

5 Claims. 1

This inventionrelates to box making machines of the type in which the box blank is creased, folded, cemented, ironed and. stacked preparatory to presentation to an automatic filling mach ne. In one aspect the present invention comprises improvements in the delivering unit of such machines by which the speed and accuracy of the unit are very substantially improved while at the same time the structure of the unit is made more compact and convenient, and more readily flexible in adjustment for handling box blanks of various sizes.

In box folding machines heretofore known, the folded box blank has been engaged by ironing rolls as it leaves. the. folding belt and before full control thereof has been taken over by the acting instrumentalities of the delivery unit. In other Words, the advancing end of the blank. has been engaged by the ironing rolls while the rear end of the blank is still free to spread or to become slightly displaced and before the blank has reached its fully flattened condition. This has introduced inaccuracy into. the operation of the machine, for occasionally the compression of the ironing rolls on the advancing end of the folded blank has caused the sides of the blank. to spread objectionably with the result that the ironing rolls make permanent an. uneven fold of the box.

As distinguished from these prior machines, an important feature of the present. invention consists in combining the folding belt of a box making machine with a delivery unit including cooperating delivery and pressing belts arranged to receive the folded blank successively in endwise direction from the folding belt together with cooperating ironing rolls so located as to engage a blank only after it has been completely received and flattened by the delivery and pressing belts of the delivery unit.

Another feature of my invention consists in utilizing the driving shafts for the delivery and pressing belt pulleys as carriers for the ironing rolls. By this feature I not only eliminate two separate! shafts for the ironing. rolls, but locate the said rolls more: advantageously in the machine than heretofore; that is to say, they are in the machine so that it may be quickly and conveniently organized for handling box blanks of different sizes and shapes. As herein shown, the desired. adjustment is effected by providing a pair of intermediate adjustable carriers upon which the various guiding and tensioning pulleys and rolls for the feed belts are mounted and which have a controlling connection with the driving pulleys together with hand operated means for shifting the carriers simultaneously and equally, and at the same time shifting the driving pulleys all without interfering with cooperative action of the feedv belts.

These and other. features and advantages of the invention will be best understood and appreciated from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof, selected for purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a view in elevation of the delivery unit as seen with one of the side frames removed,

Fig. 2 is a view in perspective of a portion of the unit,

Fig. 3 is a view in. cross section on. the line 3-3 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view of the ironing rolls, and

Fig. 5 is a view in elevation of the driving unit, seen from the side of the machine opposite to that shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

The operating parts of the machine are mounted between two long side frame members It and Il connected and. held permanently in spaced relation by transverse tie rods of which two rods l6 and I! are shown in the drawings. In Figs. 1. and 2 is shown the end of the glueing and. folding unit by which the box blanks are advanced to the delivery unit comprising, the subject-matter of the present application. Transverse shafts l2 and I3 constitute parts of the previously operating unit and on each of these shafts is. mounted a pair of pulleys over which run cooperating folder and carrier belts l4 and IS. The box blanks are advanced by these two pairs of belts and while controlled by them receive an application of adhesive along one edge and are foldedpreparatory to the ironing operation to be performed by the delivery unit.

After the box blanks have been ironed, they are delivered to the stacking unit of the machine. This includes cooperating stacking belts l8 and i9 and need not be further describedv herein since it forms no part of the present invention.

The upper driving and ironing. shaft 2! is journaled at its opposite ends in eccentric bushings in the side frames l0 and I I. As shown in Fig. 2,

a clamping screw 22 is provided for holding the bushing at that end of the shaft in position. A headed stud 23 secured to the bushing at the other end of the shaft and a clamping screw 24 provide similar adjustment at the end of the shaft journaled in the side frame I By this adjustment the shaft may be moved slightly up and down to adjust the pressure of the ironing rolls as will presently appear.

The lower main driving and ironing shaft 25 is journaled in the side frames I and II below the shaft 2|. It extends through the side frame I 0, as shown in Fig. into a gear casing 26 where it is provided with a large gear 31 carrying a spiral bevel gear 36. The bevel gear 35 meshes with a bevel pinion 35 on a longitudinally disposed drive shaft 30 journaled in the gear casing and in an intermediate bearing 3|. At its outer end the drive shaft 30 is provided with a pulley and connected through a series of V-belts 32 with the driving pulley of a motor 33. The gear 31 on the shaft 25 meshes with a corresponding gear 38 on the shaft 2| so that both the shafts 2| and 25 are positively driven at the same speed in opposite directions. The meshing teeth of the two gears 31 and 38 provide sufiicient clearance for the small amount of vertical adjustment provided for the shaft 2| as already explained.

The driving shaft 30 is also provided with a beveled pinion 29 meshing with a beveled gear 28 on one end of the shaft I3, thus driving that shaft at the same speed as the shafts 2| and 25. The shaft |3 carries a gear 21 meshing with a corresponding gear on the outer end of the shaft I2. It will be seen, therefore, that the driving unit is effective for driving both units at a predetermined fixed speed. The speed of the delivery belts is such as to advance the box blanks in one commercial instance at the rate of one thousand per minute.

The lower delivery belt 4|) of the ironing unit passes over a pulley 4| fast on the lower shaft 25, thence rearwardly over an idle pulley 42 adjacent to the delivery point of the folder belts I4 and carrier belts l5 of the previously acting unit. The belt 40 then passes forwardly, being supported in its blank feeding travel by a series of rolls 43 and then by a series of rolls 44 until it reaches small pulley 45 at the delivery end of the unit. It then passes rearwardly and downwardly over an idle pulley 46, an adjustable tenpulley 52 corresponding to the idle pulley 42 of the lower belt. It then passes forwardly beneath a pair of rolls 53 and a series of rolls 54 mounted in a weighted frame and is thus held always in contact with the lower belt 40 or the blanks thereon until it reaches the location of the pulley 45. It is then guided by the lower belt 48 about a portion of the circumference of the pulley 45, and then passes'downwardly to a guide pulley 55 mounted in the lower end of a long spindle 56. The belt 55 then passes upwardly about a pulley 51, thence downwardly to a guide pulley 58, about a guide pulley 59, and back to the main pulley 5|. The spindle 56 is mounted for longitudinal adjustment in a bracket 60 which itself is pivotally mounted between the side frames on a carrier member 16 to be described below. The spindle such that the folded and ironed box blanks are delivered upon the stacker belt I9 of the unit of the machine which operates subsequently to the unit which is the subject-matter of this invention.

A pair of similar ironing rolls 63 and B4 are mounted upon the shaft 25, one on either side of the pulley 4| and of substantially the same diameter as the driving pulley plus the thickness of the belt 40. The ironing rolls are splined upon the shaft 25 so that they may be adjusted longitudinally thereon and are provided with set screws 65 for holding them in adjusted position. As shown in Fig. 3, the lower ironing rolls are adjusted substantially into contact with the side faces of the pulley 4|. Cooperating ironing rolls 66 and 61 are similarly mounted upon the upper shaft 2 I. As shown in Fig. 3, these are adjusted outwardly with slight spacing from the sides of the pulley 5|. The circumferential faces of the ironing rolls 66 and B1 are slightly beveled so as to concentrate ironing pressure in the desired zone of the box blank to be'treated, and by lateral adjustment of these rolls further adjustment of the ironing pressure upon the box blanks may be effected.

The pulleys 4| and 5| are adjustably retained in position upon their respective shafts by mechanism which will now be described. A threaded transverse shaft 10 is journaled in the side frame members above the shaft 2| and is provided at one end with an operating crank 1| and a sprocket Wheel 12 over which runs a sprocket chain I3 running to a corresponding sprocket wheel (not shown) upon a lower threaded shaft 14 journaled in the side frame below the shaft 25. Accordingly, when the crank II is turned, both threaded shafts I0 and T4 are rotated equally in the same direction.

The shaft 10 carries a threaded sleeve I5 secured to or formed integral with a web or flange 16 which extends rearwardly into proximity to the feed belts I4 and i5 and forwardly into engagement with the tie rod upon which it may slide transversely. Bolted to one side of the web 16 is a thin blade I1 which is forked at its forward end and received in a radial groove I8 provided for that purpose in the circumferential face of the pulley 5 I The pulley is splined to its shaft 2| and its transverse position thereon is deter mined by the setting of the sleeve I5 on the threaded shaft I0 through the connections above described. Similarly, the lower threaded shaft I4 carries a threaded sleeve having a Web or flange 86 which carries a forked blade 81 running in a circumferential groove 88 formed in the lower pulley 4|. The sleeves l5 and 85 are not threaded throughout but each contains a single removable blade 19 or 89 which makes operative connection with the threaded shaft 10 or 14.

It will be noted that the two webs 16 and 86 carry the feed belts 40 and 50 and all their supporting and guiding rolls so that when the driving pulleys 4| and 5| are shifted transversely, the belts and all their related equipment are accordingly adjusted. In adapting the machine for operation on box blanks of different sizes and shapes, it often becomes necessary to shift the transverse position of the delivery belts and of the ironing rolls. By merely turning the crank 'I|, both threaded shafts are turned equally in the same direction and the carrier members comprising the webs T6 and 86 are shifted equally in parallel relation. Also by their connection through the blades 11 and 81, the driving pulleys 5| and 4| are accordingly shifted. It will be understood that the feed belts are pressed toward each other and into gripping engagement with the box blanks, first by the guide rolls 42 and 52 of which the latter is spring mounted, then by the driving pulleys 4| and 5|, and then by the sets of rolls 43, 53 and 44, 54, the upper rolls in both sets being mounted in spring pressed or weighted carriages as indicated in Fig. 1. The carriage of the rolls 53 is indicated in dotted lines in that figure and it will be understood that the carriage may be mounted similarly to the carriage of the rolls 43.

It will be noted that the rear arcuate portion of the pulleys 4| and 5| are not covered by the delivery belts 40 and 50 and consequently free entrance is afforded for the forked blades 11 and 87 which govern the lateral position of these pulleys on their respective shafts. This con struction permits the use of belt pulleys having no hubs and so admits of the ironing rolls being adjusted much closer to the sides of the pulleys than would otherwise be possible. The machine may thus be readily organized for handling smaller or narrower box blanks than heretofore.

In Fig. 4 the ironing rolls 53 and 54 are shown as operatively associated with rolls 66' and 51 that have flat rims instead of convex rims as do the corresponding rolls in Fig. 3.

As will be well understood the function of the delivery unit is to receive at a high rate of speed box blanks which have been glued and folded by the previous unit, to iron the creased folds under heavy pressure and to press and hold the glued surfaces under pressure until the parts are permanently united. Meanwhile the unit passes the blanks along at the same high rate of speed and delivers them to the subsequently operating stacking unit.

Having thus disclosed my invention and described in detail an illustrative embodiment thereof, I desire to secure by Letters Patents:

1. A box blank folding machine comprising two side frames, two parallel shafts journaled in the frames, two belt pulleys respectively splined to the shafts, two feed belts carried by the pulleys, guiding rolls cooperating with the pulleys to direct the belts in contiguous paths adapted to support and carry a blank therebetween, two ironing rolls mounted for axial adjustment on and along 6 the shafts to cooperating position adapted to iron therebetween blanks carried by the belts. and means for driving the shafts in opposite directions.

2. The box blank folding machine defined in claim 1 in which two of said ironing rolls are mounted on the shafts at opposite sides of the pulleys and adapted simultaneously to iron therebetween portions of the blanks disposed on opposite sides of the pulleys.

3. The box blank folding machine defined in claim 1 plus a carrier member associated with each pulley and supporting the guide rolls cooperating therewith, and means for simultaneously adjusting the carrier members and pulleys as a unit axially of the shafts.

4. The box blank folding machine defined in claim 3 in which said pulleys are grooved circumferentially in their belt engaging faces and in which the carrier members include portions extending into said grooves, thereby permitting adjustment of the ironing rolls closely adjacent to the pulleys.

' 5. A box blank folding machine comprising a frame having parallel shafts journaled therein one above the other, a belt pulley on each shaft, feed belts running over both of said pulleys, guide rolls cooperating with the pulleys to direct the feed belts in contiguous paths for carrying the box blanks, an ironing roll mounted for axial adjustment upon each shaft whereby its distance from the feed belts may be varied to accommodate box blanks of various sizes and the blanks may be ironed as they are fed by the belts between the said pulleys, and means driving the shafts in opposite directions.

WALTER PAUL FERGNANI.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 756,500 Inman Apr. 5, 1904 955,713 Staude Apr. 19, 1910 992,244 Potdevin May 16, 1911 1,179,573 Staude Apr. '18, 1916 1,444,347 La Bombard et al. Feb. 6, 1923 1,717,695 La Bombard et al. June 18, 1929 

